K.Mandla's blog of Linux experiences

Three recent thoughts

Not that these have any relevancy to any particular point in current events, but they all came to mind in quick succession over the past day or two.

I thought I was the only person who had heard of the hype cycle, but I guess there must be others. The funny thing is, working with old, old machines like these makes the entire principle irrelevant. Point-zero-one software releases, iJunk, processor improvements of one-tenth of a percent over last week … they’re not really important. It’s possible to live so far down that curve that the initial hiccup is just something silly you watch other people ride. Waitaminute … cycles have curves?

Can we stop saying Ubuntu doesn’t work, because it doesn’t go well for one particular person on one particular machine? This lazy old chant has been around since at least Breezy Badger, when I first remember hearing it. Please remember: Ranting and raving about a bad experience and generalizing beyond that isn’t just poor logic, it’s poor taste.

I’m debating whether or not I should actually go through the effort of jury-rigging a machine that will boot the Ubuntu 10.10 alternative disc. Rumor had it that Maverick would be i686-only, and yet the ISOs are all labeled i386. Maybe that’s just tradition, but I might look into it before going the extra mile and actually seeing if they work.

Not that anything there is particularly insightful, but that’s what’s been on my mind lately. 🙄

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7 thoughts on “Three recent thoughts”

I’ve been liking Ubuntu 10.10 .. I’m usually against the “hog” that is Ubuntu. Usually preferring Crunchbang or Debian with Openbox or Gnome (depending upon the machine)

10.10 has a certain “togetherness” about it that I really like .. can’t really explain it .. it runs a little better on older hardware than 10.04 did in my opinion. The only thing that burns me is the Nvidia Xorg 1.9 bug .. https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xorg-server/+bug/626974
It’s not Ubuntu to blame really .. they are in fact a “bleeding edge” distro.

A good thing about the DIY culture in other distros is that people always try to help themselves first before asking others to, and real problems get solved.

After all these years we still have the EXACT same Ubuntu threads, made by the similarly clueless people who feel hurt that they can’t operate Ubuntu and start blaming the software instead. That is, assuming we’re not dealing with trolls, which is what they are most of the time.

When you have a working solution for them (as in copying/pasting commands, not unlike some regedit and regsvr32 fixes in windows), they complain how it is too hard and that FOSS isn’t “ready” in general. When you tell them to RTFM, they whine about elitism. When everything works but they suddenly miss proprietary app X, they swear that the lack of X keeps them away from Linux. When there’s nothing that displeases them, they start singing about how FOSS is the best thing since sliced bread and recommend it to their friend. After a while both of them run into a problem and the cycle begins anew.

But that’s Canonical’s problem because they’re trying to sell it as ‘user-friendly’, which is not wrong per se, but then 8 out of 10 will think it means even a monkey can use it, and suddenly realize they’re less intelligent than monkeys. As if. The only conclusion they’ll jump to is that the software is at fault and Canonical lies, “it’s not user-friendly if I can’t use it”.

But then I’m being Captain Obvious. 10 years down the road we’ll still have these same threads.

I like that one, gave me a good chuckle. I have to agree on the repeat 3.0. I don’t frequent the Ubuntu Forums as much as I used to. But, when I go back and do the view recent posts, I see the same posts over and over. It seems that nobody knows how to do a search. Yes, the answer you get may be from 8.04, but there is fair probability that it will solve the issue in 10.04. Maybe, not word for word, but close enough for one to fill in the blank part.

The other key term that nobody gets is: Google is your friend.

Tomorrow, I am probably opening a big can of PITA. I’m installing Ubuntu on a friends computer. He has had enough of Windows, but lacks a lot of computer savy. I plan on turning him loose with everything working and hope that he likes it. We are also re-installing his XP to clear up some issues there, so he’ll be dual bootable. So, I may be adding some of those same old questions, indirectly. Please, don’t get mad at me. 🙂

I have never like the stupidity/intelligence argumentation that can be found in dozens of different forms. Some Linux users, for example, seem to think that:

– those using Windows are dumber than the Linux users
– those using Ubuntu are dumber than the Slackware users
– those using GNOME certainly are dumber than those using KDE
– those using KDE evidently are dumber compared with CLI users
– those using a word processor are of course stupid compared with LaTeX users

It is just a question of preferences, not of intelligence — most people just prefer to get things done with the computer without spending any time to learn new mostly unnecessary skills.

Am I the only one to think that you’re going off on a tangent and starting a whole new topic ? Are you sure you’re replying to someone here ?

But ok, let’s talk more about those strawman ‘opinions’. Using windows means you’re more stupid ? People want to learn unnecessary skills ? (if you go by the definition of ‘unnecessary’, obviously no one wants to). And lol, KDE users are smarter than GNOME users ? You already know the answers.

We use software for our own selfish gains. What we use, and how we do it, is our own choice. So does it matter what others say when it is obvious you’re only using software for yourself ?

But let’s be clear about this. If some people refuse to learn when something goes wrong so that it won’t happen again (obviously not PhD material), well let’s just say that’s their fucking right. And they can choose to be snobbish about that, too. And we’ll die to protect that right (america is always dramatic). However, expecting others to show them respect for that is out of the question. It’s only natural that if you do nothing, you can’t demand praise or respect. But just remember you don’t have to care about all the drama, there will always be others waiting in line to help you solve the problem, at a price.

I like to call that anti-elitism. If traditional elitism has very few merits, anti-elitism has no merits at all. But guess which one is more popular ? The world has turned anti-intellectualism into an art form. The media is full of stereotypes and misinformation. The internet is the perfect place for those who hate work but yearn for instant gratifications… So next time when that kid down the block is ridiculing you for your use of software, remember to tune in for an Apple presentation and be reminded that the world is on your side. Who cares about that kid anyway, he’s probably living in the basement and not getting laid.

“So next time when that kid down the block is ridiculing you for your use of software, remember to tune in for an Apple presentation and be reminded that the world is on your side. Who cares about that kid anyway, he’s probably living in the basement and not getting laid.”

for p.2
There are always people who say “your system does not work”. It does not matter if this is Ubuntu, or Windows, or SAP or smth else. They are not technically qualified enough to understand what exactly is going wrong, so whole system in their understanding is wrong. In some cases their DNA is the only wrong thing.
Just take it philosophically.
Another position which is more constructive:http://linuxhaters.blogspot.com/
I like the approach here.